The Progressive Corporation and Subsidiaries v. United States

MILBURN, Circuit Judge.

Defendant United States of America appeals from the summary judgment granted by the district court in favor of plaintiff, The Progressive Corporation and Subsidiaries (“Progressive”), which awarded Progressive a tax refund of $2,191,595 plus interest from the date the taxes were paid. On appeal, the principal issues are (1) whether Progressive’s simultaneous purchases of a stock and a put option on the same stock resulted in a holding period of zero under 26 U.S.C. § 246(c)(3) so that Progressive did not meet the 16-day holding period prescribed in 26 U.S.C. §…